Kiran Leonard's 'Scorched Earth' Reinvention — SkimNews
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- Kiran Leonard was hailed as a prodigy at 16 upon his 2012 debut Bowler Hat Soup and was set up with a manager, booking agent, publicist, and radio plugger before he could legally drink.
- Leonard ditched his entire industry team in what he called 'total scorched earth,' moving to London with no plan; he has not found another manager since and initially struggled to get gigs.
- Leonard found his footing through the post-rock band Caroline, which he calls 'the nexus of some of the country's most vital experimental music' and now occasionally plays in.
- Leonard's recent output includes 2024's Real Home (touches on ramshackle country, menacing prog, and Jonathan Richman-esque romanticism) and last year's Small Brown Bed/With You Waltz, recorded live at DIY venues including the Golden Lion in Todmorden and Delicious Clam in Sheffield with his group No Tailgate.
- Leonard runs the duo Or Sobre Blau with Catalan guitarist Andreu G Serra; their second album Making Friends, released earlier this year, mixes ambient guitar primitivism with oddball samples and scratched-up found sound.
- Leonard credits include work on acclaimed records by Eli Winter, Caroline, and My New Band Believe, and he says his current work is driven by 'a very physical thing' — making sounds that conjure 'full-body sensations.'
Why it matters: Leonard's arc reframes the 'prodigy' trajectory: his deliberate scorched-earth exit from early industry scaffolding — installed before he could legally drink — cost him momentum but let him rebuild around the DIY experimental community anchored by Caroline, now yielding four distinct recent projects including a duo album with Catalan guitarist Andreu G Serra.
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